and welcome to this week's Fireside Chat. We're excited to see all of you online today. So as you can see, today I'm actually socially distancing from our leader, Tim Cross. I'm Lisa Stearns, I'm Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications, and we are anxious to get started and answer some of your questions.
Just a couple of housekeeping items. Your audio is automatically muted. Please keep it that way. It just helps us to better hear Dr.
Cross as he speaks. If you have questions, we are taking questions. Please use the chat function, which is at the bottom of your Zoom screen. Your questions will be seen if you post them publicly, but if you wish to send a question, you can send that to me privately in that chat function as well.
So we'll get to those questions as best we can. One other note for those that can't join today, if you'll let them know we are recording this session, and it will be available to anyone on the coronavirus website on the UTIA homepage. You can access that at utia.tennessee.edu. So let's jump right in here.
First, Tim, would you please give us all an update on the Institute and specifically talking about facility access, employees working remotely, and the continuity of operations? Great. Well, thanks for kicking us off, Lisa, and thanks to all of you for joining us this morning. I thought it would be good for us to put our heads together again just briefly as an Institute and make sure we all kind of know where we're at and what's going on.
I'm feeling a little like the Maytag repairman here this morning. While I've been working from home all week, I chose to come into the office this morning, and I can tell you it's quite quiet in Morgan Hall today, and that's the way we want it to be. But it does feel a little odd to be really working alone quite so much. Now, like all of you, I've had many, many minutes on Zoom calls, phone calls, email, chat, you name it, but it still feels a little bit isolating, obviously, and that's the purpose.
That's what we want to do. But I know we're all probably struggling a little bit to adjust to that, by and large. Everybody in the Institute is a people person, and when you have that lack of people connection, it really seems to have a negative impact. But I've been so impressed with the work that's still going on.
So let me talk just a little bit about updates since a week ago, and really there aren't a large number of those updates. The first thing is in terms of our facilities, we've now restricted access to only employees, students, and really critical stakeholders at all of our facilities, both on campus and across the state. And that includes our extension offices. That includes our Research and Education Center buildings.
And Dr. Sheehan and the Research and Education Center directors are also now monitoring and controlling access even to our outdoor facilities, our external facilities at the Research and Education Centers. So that is a change from a week ago. I think that's been working quite well.
I don't know of any particular issues or challenges associated with that. I do appreciate the fact that the gardens remain accessible to the public and to our own folks. You know, as we shared in the note from Dr. Strand last week, this is a time when, you know, you really need to sometimes take a pause and get outside and stretch your legs and get some fresh air.
What better place to do that than at one of our gardens or at your own gardens at home or in nearby parks or outdoor areas. So we're trying to maintain those garden areas accessible, obviously encouraging everyone to practice good social distancing as they enjoy those opportunities. Let me also talk just a little bit about continuity of operations, which is really sort of the technical term for how are we keeping the institute functioning during this time. And, again, I'm really pleased and proud of the work that's going on.
We, I think, are operational, if you will. A lot of folks have said, well, I hear the university shut down. How are things going? And to some, they think the changes that are announced means the lights are off, the doors are locked and closed, and no work is going on.
Everyone you on this call today know that that's not true, that's not the case, and that's not what we intend either. We are still operating. We're still achieving those major goals that we talked about previously, and I think that's the way it should be. We're providing value to those we serve, and we need to continue doing that.
Great. Well, in this time of uncertainty that we're all living through, hearing some highlights of the week would be helpful. What are some of the stories that you have heard about how UTIA is responding to this pandemic? Yeah, thank you.
A week ago I mentioned, you know, we really need to be sharing things that are happening, positive things that are going on, and a lot of that has been happening. So let me just cut down a few really high-level highlights. First, let me talk about research. There's been a lot of talk about we're going to discontinue research, but that has not been the case.
We have been able to adopt social distancing practices, CDC guidance, in terms of being able to continue critical research. And, again, if you think about many of those projects having been underway for weeks or months or, in some cases, years, discontinuing them overnight would be really devastating. It's great to know that many of those projects are able to continue, and we're doing it in a way that, I believe, truly protects our employees, graduate students, and other students who may be involved with them, such that, again, we can continue the projects and continue achieving the results we were hoping for while still protecting our health. So in Utah Extension, a lot of things going on, some of them directly related to coronavirus, and some of them related to just continuing to serve, again, farmers, families, and communities and youth across the state.
So too many examples to really talk about anything specifically. But what I would say is it's real obvious that across the entire state, everyone in Extension is rolling up their sleeves, figuring out how to deliver programs in new ways or determining how they can best help or assist or serve their community. So lots of great examples there. In the College of Veterinary Medicine, we're still continuing to receive critical care and emergency care cases, as well as still continuing to make visits to farms that need farm animal health, urgent treatment as well.
Dr. Thompson and the whole staff at the College of Veterinary Medicine have been very nimble in adapting to this situation, continuing to serve clientele while, again, making sure we protect the health and safety of our faculty and staff. All student education throughout both the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Herbert College of Agriculture has now transitioned to being online, and that's the fourth and final highlight, I guess, I'd share, and that is that all of you who have teaching responsibilities, whether it's in veterinary medicine or it's in agriculture, have now spent one week adapting to this new world of online instruction, and likewise, our students have spent a week adapting to online learning. I know there's been some bumps in the road.
I know there's been some learning on the part of all of us, but I also know we've carried that out with very few issues or problems. We've been reaching out to students directly, asking for those who might need help to let us know what help they need and how we can provide it, and really just doing our very best to stay connected. So those are some, again, the high-level highlights that I would share. We've been receiving examples, but certainly want to continue to receive those in weeks ahead.
And let me add to that that if you know of just some great stories about how the Institute is responding to this pandemic, please shoot me or Dr. Cross a note. We would love to highlight these. We're getting asked by the media, and we're being asked by the system office to hear some of these stories that can be highlighted in a lot of different ways, so don't be shy about letting us know what's going on.
So Dr. Cross, many of us are adapting to this new approach of carrying out our jobs, and we've had to do this, obviously, very quickly. What advice has the organization, UTIA, given to supervisors, and then how can all of us support this effort to be virtual? Yeah, great.
And let me first say I think our supervisors, our administrators, our department heads, our directors, county directors, center directors are really doing an excellent job in coping with this new world and this new approach to work that we've adopted just within the last couple weeks. A couple of the things that we've shared and encouraged everyone in terms of our supervisors, and many of which were already being done, first of all, stay connected, check in with folks, either in small groups, large groups like we're doing today, or even one-on-one. Let's make sure our faculty and staff know what is expected of them, and let's make sure our supervisors know what's being done. That's a great opportunity to share some of those success stories we just talked about.
And more than anything else, it helps to keep us connected. Again, this time when we're each at our own places individually, it can feel like, gosh, I'm really not part of a team anymore. The greatest extent to which we can stay connected is really important. Secondly, we've asked all of our supervisors to be sure they know the status of each employee, where they're working from, and, again, just a general idea of some of the things that they're working on.
So I think we've been asked this week specifically how many employees are working at home and how many are still required to come to the office. For your information, to the best of our knowledge, we estimated about 2,200 employees currently at home, working remotely at least from the Institute of Agriculture, leaving approximately 300 still required to report to the office or to their place of work on a daily basis. But, again, even those reports typically are under different schedules, different practices, or different social distancing procedures. So just to give you some frame of reference where we're at, and we need to make sure that we have a good handle on that so that we can effectively provide support and leadership to all of our workforce.
And then, finally, we've encouraged our supervisors all to obtain some of those key accomplishments, highlights, success stories every week from each of you. We don't need paragraphs and dissertations of information, but knowing what great work you've done and how you've done it and what you've accomplished and what you've done to invest in your abilities going forward for the future that will transform our Institute and enable us to come out of this coronavirus even stronger and with new and innovative programs, that information is really helpful as well. So those are the three key points. Staying connected, knowing who's in what sort of work situation, and, finally, sharing accomplishments and results.
Great. Well, on a less happy note, we knew this would happen, but the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has had its first confirmed case of COVID-19. So how do our numbers look today? Well, I'm really quite proud to say our numbers look exactly the same today.
We have had, so far, to this point in time, still only one confirmed case, and that's great news, and I think that's a great reflection on everybody doing their part to stay isolated, to stay quarantined when necessary in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. So, so far, we've only had one confirmed case, and as we really enter into approximately our second week of our new posture in terms of working remotely, I truly expect the number of cases that would be work-related, certainly, would continue to be small, and perhaps we can pull it at the current level of only one. Certainly, we want to wish the very best for that one case. No one wants to be afflicted with this virus, but we also know that the vast majority of those who are tested positive fully and completely recover in a short period of time.
So we're keeping an eye on that, and we will be sure to notify if there is a positive case. But increasingly, we will have had no direct contact between employees for a good long while, and that's a good thing. So the risk of transmission from employee to employee should be very, very low and decreasing every day. And a reminder that on the coronavirus website, there is some great information on how you can stay as safe as possible.
So we've had some really great information posted to that site. Okay, so we will take questions. As a reminder, don't forget to use the chat function if you do have a question, and we have had a few. One is, how will the quarantine policy change that has taken place now that there are more than 20 cases in Knox County?
How will our quarantine policy, I guess, change based on those 20 cases in Knox County? So at this time, you know, almost every community, it seems, is in a different posture or state of reaction to the virus here in Knox County. The Knox County mayor issued a shelter-in-place order, but it certainly indicated essential businesses and services should and could continue. And really, that's not as strong or solid a stance, I think, as we would see in Knox County until such time as there might be a federal and or state order that could be more stringent.
So at this time, even with 20 cases in Knox County, I don't anticipate any changes here in this local area. But I recognize also that Knox County is only one out of 95. So bear in mind, it's really hard to predict what might be going on or to report accurately what's going on in each of those 95 counties. We still certainly want to follow the advice and guidance of each of our local county governments and make sure to do what's ordered or mandated in each of those locations as well.
If you look at what we've done and how we're operating right now and then think of a worst-case scenario, if you will, how much more stringent could things become? Again, I think the only real two possibilities are a state-mandated shelter-in-place with a very restrictive set of essential businesses and services identified and or a federal order similar to that. And at this point, you know, we really think that the major changes that we would see might be further guidance with regard to research projects, perhaps counseling as to which ones are truly essential and really have to continue onward. However, there's a group that includes representatives from Ag Research as well as the University of Tennessee Knoxville looking at ongoing projects and helping to develop guidance should an order like that be executed.
And I think that even if it is, it won't be implemented overnight. It will be phased in over a period of time such that if we have to, we can scale back without abandoning projects entirely and perhaps do it in such a way that we can scale them back up again quickly as well. So that's a long-winded answer to say really I don't see any changes in the short term. But I said that a week ago.
I said that two weeks ago also, so bear in mind, it's still a fluid situation, but we're trying to keep very close track of it. I still connect with the policy group and the Emergency Operations Center here on campus so that we stay informed and contribute to needs and issues from the Institute. But campus-level decision-making as well. Great.
Well, we've had another question, and it's on the academic side, and that is, what is known about possible changes to promotion and tenure clocks? Yeah, so that question basically reflects, you know, the fact that some of our assistant professors who are currently in the midst of their probationary period may be experiencing real challenges in terms of teaching classes, conducting research, delivering extension educational programs, serving clients in our veterinary hospital. And clearly they're worried that this would have a detrimental impact on their ability to have a strong package of accomplishments to report. At today's board meeting, this afternoon, the board will be presented a proposed change in the tenure policy to enable those who do feel like they've been disadvantaged by the coronavirus and that are still under tenure consideration to extend their time period by at least a year.
And the idea would be that that would be up to each individual faculty member to request that, but that we would broadly support that from an administrative perspective. So I expect that to be passed this afternoon and put in place. Those who do have challenges that are 10-year o'clock will be able to have an additional year at least in order to cope with that situation. Good question.
Okay, and we have another question, and this person says that a message was sent out earlier concerning research that we're strongly discouraging to getting any new experimental activities that would take more than a day or two at this point. So should faculty proceed with field research projects for the 2020 rowing season? I think first and foremost, you know, every project is going to be different, so that's a conversation with a direct supervisor, without a doubt. And if projects can be undertaken, particularly field projects, and social distancing can be practiced, and we can do things in a safe manner, I do believe it is still possible to do things that are seasonal critical.
In other words, if we don't plan it right now, we'll miss a window of research opportunity for a year. So I would certainly counsel a contact with a direct supervisor. If there's further questions, that supervisor can in turn visit with the dean, whatever dean is most appropriate, and determine what's best in terms of specific projects. So I know that we're not trying to undertake a lot of high-intensity, high number of people projects within close quarters, certainly, but if we can do new projects that can be carried out safely, then I think we should consider how that might be approached.
And this isn't so much a question, but somebody wanted to share that apparently, our ag industry partners are asking that if we do post pictures of farming, that we use the hashtag StillFarming just to bring attention to our industry and how important it is and certainly has been critical during this pandemic because, of course, everyone, as we know, needs to eat. Yeah, good. I was just about to call with Commissioner Hatcher, President Akin, Dr. Burns, and others from the ag industry, and that was discussed statewide.
It's actually an effort, I believe, in the American Farm Bureau to remind you at the public that farmers are still producing food, and we will still be able to eat, and we need to remind them that farmers are still hard work out there producing their food supply, and there's a lot of individuals throughout the whole supply chain enabling that to happen as well. So a good opportunity for those of you that have the opportunity to provide direct examples of those in agriculture who are still farming. And I'm looking at Kevin White here. Maybe we should also remind that they're still producing trees in order to produce the toilet paper and other supplies that we need as well.
So examples of both would be great. And I would say don't forget to tag UTIA, too, in any social media posts that you do so that we can see the great stories out there. Here's another question. Do you insist that the university will still move toward a paid parental leave policy?
This person is concerned that this will be put on the back burner, but given the current situation, is going to even be more critical for new parents during this crisis? You know, I don't have a good crystal ball on a continuing or permanent parental leave policy right now. The governor, as you know or recall, issued an executive order that would provide that leave for state government employees, but it excluded higher education and some others as well. The legislature pushed back on the governor's executive order.
He withdrew it and then asked the General Assembly to pass a legislative act that would establish a parental leave, a family medical leave support for parents in particular for care of family members. But they did not take up that action prior to their adjournment last week. So the question is, well, once they reconvene on or about June 1st, if possible, will that become an active item on their legislative agenda? And I haven't seen any real projections on that at this point.
But the focus right now is entirely on the economy, on our families in terms of their employment and support for those who need benefits. So we'll just have to stay tuned for that. What was the second part of the question, Lisa? Just a concern that as this pandemic carries on, that this will be put on the back burner and really should not be.
Well, I couldn't agree more. I think this is an important issue and one that I do think will get taken care of at some point. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as on the back burner. But I would not say it's probably the number one issue that the governor, General Assembly, and policymakers are concerned with at the moment.
But highly related to it is the question of the right for those individuals who are now facing care of children or care of parents or others, care of those who may be sick. You know, what support and relief is there? And I think that's an important thing to consider. And I believe the university is looking at what more we can do in that regard without a legislative act.
Great. Well, it looks like those are all the questions from our audience. So do you have any closing remarks? Well, just a couple.
One, let me give a shout out again to Dr. Hoyt. I mentioned that our external facilities, our field facilities were restricted. But Kevin reminds us that the Arboretum out at the Forest Research and Education Center is still available for the public use as well.
So I mentioned the gardens. I forgot to mention the Arboretum. My apologies, Kevin. But for those of you in and around East Tennessee, if you want to have a stroll in the woods, you can do that out at the Arboretum.
Just stay six feet from everyone and stay healthy. Secondly, I would certainly want to thank each and every one of you. It's great to see you this morning and great to have you online. I hope if you have needs that you'll let us know.
So we try to stay informed without overwhelming your inbox. But if there's information you feel like you need that you haven't gotten, by all means, please drop your supervisor note. Give us a call. Whatever it takes to try to keep you informed.
And then finally, I really feel like we are gaining some great experience and some good knowledge of new ways to do things, whether it be processing paperwork for new hires and moving that to more electronic means, whether it be delivering courses or extension programs in a new format, really adapting much of what we do to a more online procedure, or even getting experience with working remotely. I think all those things are going to benefit us long term. So while I certainly don't ever want to say it's great to have a crisis, I do think it's good to make the most out of the situation that we face. Thank you for what you're doing to adapt to this, to be resilient, to be supportive, and to help one another.
Without you, we would not be in a position to say we're still operational. So thanks for what you're doing. Let us know if there's more ways or different ways we can support you. And we'll look forward to staying in touch again as this pandemic unfolds.
Well, thanks, Dr. Cross, and thanks, everyone. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. And stay safe.
Thank you.